VIDEO: Real Talk with Hawaiian Electric’s Sharon Suzuki, President of Maui County and Hawai’i Island Utilities

Donovan Fayd, account executive for MauiNow interviewed Hawaiian Electric’s Sharon Suzuki, president of Maui County and Hawai’i Island Utilities to learn how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their business operations.

Hawaiian Electric continues to provide service to the Hawaiian Islands with a focus on responding to the dynamic situation of the COVID-19 pandemic through their incident management team.

“We have adjusted our operational team so that they are focused on essential work that minimizes interaction with the public…Emergency work, of course, is a high priority still. In the event that there is an outage in your neighborhood, we are going to respond and restore power as quickly and as safely as possible,” Suzuki said.

Hawaiian Electric said to contact their business if they are struggling to pay their bills and will accommodate customers based on their situation.

“We can work through different options for their specific situation. Either contact us on our website or at 808-871-9777 and our customer reps can help you,” Suzuki said.

The electricity supplier also warned of scams threatening customers that their power will be disconnected if they do not pay their bills.

“What they are doing is pretending to be Hawaiian Electric employees and threatening to turn off electricity if they do not pay their overdue bills. We are not disconnecting service to our customers [service disconnections are suspended through June 30],” Suzuki added.

Hawaiian Electric is committed to supporting the community during the coronavirus pandemic and has contributed $50,000 to Hawai’i’s food banks and $75,000 to the United Way agencies.

To learn more about Hawaiian Electric and what they are doing to support the community, watch the interview above or visit their website.